IAB Launches Opt Out Website For Online Behavioural Advertising

With an aim of providing consumers with clear and detailed information related to behaviour based online advertising, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has come up with a new dedicated website.

The website called YourOnlineChoices is tailored to educate users about various facets of online advertising and these include concepts like targeted ads that are generated by analysing a user’s surfing habit.

The site may also look to educate customers about controversial advertising technology like Phorm and would make them aware about their privacy rights.

YourOnlineChoices also has a ‘quick facts’ section where it offers five tips to help a user protect their privacy while surfing through the internet; in addition the site also lists the companies that meet its specified Good Practice Principles.

Expressing his satisfaction at the development, Nick Stringer, chief of regulatory affairs for the IAB, mentioned "This is a key milestone for the behavioural advertising industry. Six months on from the launch of the Good Practice Principles and those founding signatories with live commercial services in the UK have self-certified they are compliant."

With online ads becoming a part and parcel of the internet, analysts believe that IABs efforts to self regulate the industry can go a long way in protecting the privacy rights of consumers.

Our Comments

The site is launched in the year when behavioural advertising comes under scrutiny due partly to the bad PR surrounding Phorm. The company has come to symbolise targeted advertising in the UK and unfortunately, some of its murkier bits as well. That said, Behavioural advertising is set to stay as it promises better results to marketers and therefore higher revenues for sites carrying them.